Non-serialized electronic product registration system and method of operating same

ABSTRACT

A non-serialized electronic product registration (ER) system and method which enables return qualification information to be provided upon request for non-serialized products. Retailer specific return policies are enforced by providing the ER system with retailer return policies for UPCs, SKUs, model numbers and/or other non-unique product identifiers. The retailer periodically provides information to the ER system that indicates the last date on which products having a particular non-unique identifier have been sold. The ER system then determine the last date on which such products can be returned and provides non-serialized return qualification information to the retailer upon request.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 13/486,513 filed Jun. 1,2012, which is a continuation application Ser. No. 10/283,357 filed Oct.30, 2002, which claims the benefit of Provisional Application No.60/331,442 filed Nov. 15, 2001, which is hereby incorporated byreference in this application.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to electronic registration systems forpurchased products. More particularly, the invention relates an improvedelectronic product registration system that enables non-serializedproducts to be effectively and efficiently incorporated into electronicregistration systems.

Electronic registration (ER) systems enable eligibility informationregarding return, warranty, replacement and/or repair of previouslypurchased products to be collected, stored and accessed for the primarypurpose of enforcing policies regarding same. Exemplary electronicproduct registration (ER) systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos.5,978,774 and 6,018,719, the disclosures of which are incorporated byreference herein in their entirety.

Electronic registration (ER) systems have, in the past, relied on theuse of a unique identifier, such as a serial number, for each productthat is purchased. The serial number is obtained at the point of salefor inclusion in a registration database, together with otherinformation, such as a date of transaction. This database can then beaccessed in connection with an attempted product return/warrantytransaction for the purpose of determining if the product qualifies forreturn/warranty under applicable return/warranty criteria (which arealso stored in or made available to the ER system). Such electronicregistration systems may also be used in connection with repair and/orexchange transactions, in addition to returns, by enabling an accuratedetermination as to whether the product qualifies for any of theseactions under the appropriate policies and criteria under which theproduct was originally sold.

The ER system uses pre-established return/repair policies and proceduresthat are programmed into the system so that the system can perform acheck when a product is presented for return to determine if the productqualifies for return, replacement and/or warranty repair based on salestransaction information available in the ER system for the particularproduct at issue. Thus, known ER systems include a database of returnqualification information (or warranty/replacement criteria) for variousmanufacturer's and/or retailers that enables the system to make anaccurate determination with respect to whether or not a particularproduct or item (that is uniquely identified by the system using aserial number or other unique identifier) actually qualifies for return(or warranty/replacement) based on the appropriate qualificationcriteria. Such ER systems have greatly reduced improper and fraudulentreturns and warranty claims.

ER systems have, in the past, used a unique identifier for each productthat is registered, thereby enabling the system to provide returnqualification information with respect to the particular product beingreturned. Voice recognition, dial-in or internet systems are used toaccess the ER database to obtain information on registered products. Forexample, the ER system may be accessed at the time a product is beingpresented for return in order to obtain return qualification informationfor that specific product. An example of a voice recognition (VRU)system that uses serial numbers to access an ER system is disclosed inPCT application No. PCT/US01/25296 filed Aug. 14, 2001 (Atty Docket No.723-1159), and entitled “Voice Recognition Method and Apparatus UsingDynamic Link Library”, the disclosure of which is incorporated byreference herein. Due to the fact that the ER systems have been based onserialized products (i.e., products each having a unique serial number),the access systems used therewith have also been based on the use ofserial numbers.

Due to the serialized nature of previous ER systems, products that donot include a unique identifier associated therewith have not been ableto be incorporated into such ER systems. As a result, suchnon-serialized products have not been able to enjoy the many benefitsprovided by ER systems.

While ER systems have proven to be very useful in their current forms,additional improvements in such systems are still desired in order toprovide additional functionality that will benefit customers, retailersand/or manufacturers. Thus, improvements in ER systems are needed inorder to enable effective use thereof for non-serialized products, aswell as serialized products. To this end, the instant invention providesan improved ER system that has increased functionality, by providing anenhancement to known ER systems that enables information onnon-serialized products (i.e., products that do not have a uniqueidentifier) to be incorporated into an ER system. The instant inventionprovides an improved ER system that enables non-serialized products tobe easily and effectively incorporated into ER systems. The term“non-serialized” as used herein means items that are not uniquelyidentified relative (by some type of identifier, such as a serialnumber) to other similar products, thereby preventing the items frombeing distinguished from other items after manufacture, sale or thelike.

In accordance with a main aspect of the instant invention, a method andsystem are provided for obtaining and using information on sales ofnon-serialized products for the primary purpose of reducing the numberof unauthorized returns of purchased products. In accordance with apreferred embodiment of the invention, retailer specific information onsales of non-serialized products are collected by the ER system in anefficient manner and in a way that enables an educated decision to bemade when a non-serialized product is presented for return as to whetherit is possible for the product to qualify for return under applicablereturn policies or criteria. Thus, the improved ER system of theinvention enables non-serialized data or identifiers to be used toaccess return/warranty qualification information that applies to a classor group of similar products. For example, in accordance with theinvention, model numbers or other non-serialized data (such as UPC orSKU numbers) that do not uniquely identify a particular product can beentered into the ER system for the purpose of storing non-serializedproduct transaction information and later obtaining return and/orwarranty qualification information for a product that is being presentedfor return. Thus, the invention enables electronic registration ofnon-serialized products, such as products that may not have beenoriginally intended for electronic registration, due to, for example,their price, nature or other characteristics. The invention also enablesproducts that have been sold without collecting serialized registrationdata to still be added to and benefit from ER systems.

In accordance with a main feature of the invention, retailers provideinformation on a periodic basis which identifies when and whichnon-serialized products have been sold by the retailer. The ER systemstores this information together with information on applicable returnpolicies relating to the sold non-serialized products. By knowing thelast date on which a particular type of product (but not the exactproduct) was sold by a retailer, the ER system is able to determinewhether it is possible, at the time a product of this type is presentedfor return, that the product could qualify for return. For example, byknowing that a specific retailer last sold a product having a certainUPC 100 days ago, the ER system is able to inform the retailer uponinquiry that it is impossible that the product qualifies for returnunder the retailers 90 day return policy. Thus, a key aspect of theinvention involves obtaining from participating retailers (or otherentity) information indicating when certain types of products (e.g.,products having the same UPC or other non-unique identifier) were lastsold by the retailers, respectively. In one embodiment, the retailertransmits to the ER system each day at least one UPC for each productthat the retailer sells that day. In this way, the ER system knows thelast date on which each type of product was sold by each participatingretailer. The system also includes return policies for each retailer,such as “no returns allowed after 90 days from purchase.” Thus, whensomeone attempts to return a non-serialized product to a particularretailer, the ER system is able to assess transaction information forthat retailer and for the specific type of product presented (e.g., UPC)and determine whether or not it is possible that the product qualifiesfor return under the retailer's specific return policy(ies). Forinstance, if the last date of sale for products having that UPC number,for example, was more than 90 days from the attempted return date, thenit is impossible for that product to qualify for return under a 90 dayreturn policy. Similarly, if the last date of sale for that UPC waswithin the 90 day period, it is possible that the product does qualifyfor return and the retailer can then make an educated and informeddecision as to whether to accept the return. In this way, the inventionis able to reduce the number of unauthorized returns by providing theretailer (or other party) with return qualification information, uponrequest, with respect to each type of product that it has sold, withoutrequiring the use of a unique identifier.

The ER system of the invention provides and uses a database that isloaded with information on last sale date for products having certainmodel numbers, UPCs, SKUs or other non-unique identifiers, as well asapplicable return and/or warranty criteria for products having thesespecific non-unique identifiers. The database may also containserialized information so that the ER system can perform serial number(or other unique identifier) lookup operations as well as model number,UPC, SKU or other non-unique identifier lookup operations. Thus, theinstant invention enables non-serialized products to benefit fromelectronic registration in substantially the same manner that serializedproducts have and are currently benefiting from electronic registration.Of course, the non-serialized ER system described herein does notprovide the same level of accuracy as a serialized ER system, in thatactual sales date or sales location information on a specific product isnot available for the non-serialized products. However, the informationprovided by the non-serialized ER system is still very useful in makinglogical decisions about whether or not products qualify for return orwarranty repair/replacement based on the last sale date information inthe system for each class or group (e.g., UPCs) of products.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be further understood by review of the followingdetailed description of the invention when read in conjunction with theappended drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an schematic view of an exemplary electronic registrationsystem that can be used in connection with the instant invention; and

FIG. 2 is an exemplary overall block diagram illustrating the main stepsthat are performed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of theinstant invention;

FIG. 3 is an exemplary block diagram of the main steps involved ininitializing the ER system to handle non-serialized transactions; and

FIG. 4 is an exemplary block diagram of the main steps involved in usingthe ER system in connection with returns of non-serialized products.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The preferred embodiment of the instant invention will now be describedwith reference to the drawings. It is noted that this description of theinvention is only exemplary and is not meant to limit the inventionbeyond the express scope of the appended claims.

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary electronic registration (ER) system of thetype described in the ER patents identified above. In such ER systems,products are registered at the point of sale using a unique identifier,such as a serial number, that uniquely identifies the product involvedin a sales transaction. By storing the unique identifier along with adate associated with the transaction, as well as return policyinformation, ER enables prompt, efficient and accurate returntransactions to be performed in connection with product returns usingthe ER system.

As shown in FIG. 1, a typical ER system includes a point of sale (POS)transaction register 2, preferably having a scanner or wand 4 associatedtherewith. The scanner or wand enables efficient and accurate reading ofinformation, such as a UPC and/or serial number, off a product, productpackaging, electronic tag (such as an RFID tag) or other such device orindicia. The register 2 is connected to a local computer system 6 havinglocal database 8 for storing the transaction information obtained by POSregister 2. The local computer system typically has a user terminal 12and printer 10 connected thereto for accessing and controlling the localcomputer system 6. The local computer system is, for example, a retailerstore computer system and may be connected to other computer systems viachannels 13. The local computer system 6 is also preferable connected toa central ER computer system 14 having an associated database 16 whichacts as a master ER database. The central computer system 14 alsoincludes a terminal 20 and a printer used in connection with its ERfunctions. The central computer system 14 is also preferably connectedto other local computer systems over channels 12, so that it containsregistration information from many retail locations covering manydifferent manufacturer's products.

The instant non-serialized ER system is preferably implemented usingsubstantially the same conventional ER system described above. Inaccordance with the invention, the conventional ER system is modified toaccept non-serialized registrations and associated return criteria, asexplained in detail below.

In accordance with the invention, non-unique product identifiers, suchas product model numbers, UPCs, SKUs or the like, are loaded into adatabase system, such as an electronic product registration system. Theloaded UPCs, for example, define products for which the system will beable to provide return qualification information to a requesting party.Thus, if a retailer or other party desires to utilize the system for thepurpose of reducing the number of unauthorized returns, that partyprovides the UPCs of interest (or other non-unique product identifiers)so that they can be loaded into the ER system. The party then alsodefines a return/warranty policy for each different UPC that has beenloaded into the ER system. Alternatively, the party may simply provide aglobal return policy covering all of its non-serialized products. Thepolicies are preferably based on some information that relates to thelast sale date (or other key date, such as last ship date) having theparticular UPCs. For example, a policy may state that products having acertain model number or UPC cannot be returned X days (e.g., 90 days)after the last date on which a product having that UPC was sold by theretailer. The term “sale date” is used loosely herein, and covers anydate that at least closely approximates the sale date, such as the datethat the non-serialized sales information is transmitted to the ERsystem.

In this way, the ER system knows that a product having a certain modelnumber, UPC or SKU was last sold on a certain date (or approximatedate). This information, combined with the return policy connected tothis non-serialized product, enables the ER system to determine whetheror not it is possible for a product corresponding to that UPC to qualifyfor return on a specific date. Of course, this system may allow someimproper returns, due to the fact that there is no way to know exactlywhen a particular product having the UPC was purchased. However, thesystem at least can provide a logical cut-off date for returns based onthe last sale (or other key) date for all products having that UPC,thereby still operating to reduce the number of unauthorized returns. Inother words, the ER system basically assumes that all products havingthat UPC were purchased on the date the last product having that UPC waspurchased (even though this is likely not the case). This enablesdecisions to be made as to return qualification based on these lastdates. The system of the instant invention is particularly useful inreducing improper returns that, for example, are presented for returnlong after the retailer has stopped selling a particular product. Anysuitable policy can be used in accordance with the system for a group(or groups) of products having the same non-unique product identifierdepending on the particular desires of each retailer (or possiblymanufacturer) that participates in the non-serialized ER program.

Once the non-serialized products have been registered, as describedabove, access to the ER system can be provided through, for example, aVRU system or a fully computerized look-up system. In the computerizedsystem, the user would access the ER system through a web site or othercomputer communication and then be prompted for the model number, UPC orother non-unique identifier. The ER system would then look up theassociated return/warranty policy for the product and providenon-serialized return qualification information back to the user throughthe computer system (or through a VRU system).

As explained above, rather than sending a product serial number query toa database, a non-unique identifier, such as a product model number, isaccepted by the ER system and is sent to the database. As will beunderstood by those skilled in the art, a product serial number isunique for each product, whereas more than one product (typically thesame type of products) may have a non-unique identifier such as aproduct model number or UPC. While the description herein may refer to“UPC”, those skilled in the art will understand that any non-uniqueidentifier or other indicia could be used in connection with thenon-serialized system of the instant invention.

In one embodiment of the instant invention, the ER system handles serialnumber lookups and UPC (or non-serialized) lookups. The ER system willthen access the appropriate database based on the selection. If a serialnumber lookup query is requested, serial number registration informationis retrieved from the system, as described, for example, in theabove-referenced U.S. Patents. On the other hand, if returnqualification information for a product model number, UPC of othernon-uniquely identified product is requested, then qualificationinformation relating to all products having that model number, UPC etc.is provided by the ER system. Thus, the instant invention enables users(such as sales clerks or purchasers) to obtain information regardingreturn, warranty, replacement and/or repair of previously purchasedproducts using product model number (or other non-serialized)information and without the need for specific information (e.g., serialnumber, purchase date/time and/or individual transaction information)being obtained at the time the specific product is actually purchased.

By using a model number lookup rather than a serial number lookup, aretailer can effectively control the return, warranty, replacementand/or repair of purchased products even if the retailer did not collectany serialized information at the time the products were purchased. Inaccordance with the invention, no information regarding the individualpurchase transactions, particular purchase dates/times and/or serialnumbers is needed to provide the non-serialized ER system in accordancewith the instant invention. Instead, policy or criteria information isneeded that relates to the entire class or group of products that arecovered by the model number or other non-unique identifier (such asUPC). For example, a policy may be defined for a particular productmodel number such that any purchased product having that model numbercannot be returned to a particular retailer X number of days after thelast date on which that retailer sold a product having that modelnumber. Once this policy is established in the ER system, the only otherinformation needed by the ER system to function as described herein isthe last date (or approximate last date) on which that retailer sold aproduct having that model number. This exemplary return policy can beinstituted by the retailer and/or manufacturer without collecting anyserialized information at the time of sale and can thus be institutedafter some or all of the sales of the products having that particularmodel number are completed. As long as the return policy for thatparticular model number has been defined, the only additionalinformation needed is the model number itself from the requester and thelast sale date information. Serial number, purchase date/time and/orother specific transactional data at the time of sale (or any timethereafter) is not required.

A non-serialized ER system, as described herein, can generally beimplemented and operated at a lower cost as compared to a serializedregistration system, due to the fact that specific transaction data doesnot need to be provided to the non-serialized ER system for everyproduct being registered. In addition, the products do not have to beassigned unique identifiers. Thus, a system which registers serialnumber, purchase date/time and/or other transactional information is notnecessarily needed in order for the ER system of the instant inventionto operate effectively to reduce the number of improper or fraudulentreturns and/or warranty repair/replacement. Moreover, less storage spacefor non-serialized data and policy information is typically needed ascompared to a serialized ER system. For the above reasons, the instantinvention is particularly useful for relatively less expensive productsor products not originally intended for ER registration. However, theimproved ER system of the instant invention can be used for any suitableproduct.

Referring now to FIG. 2, there is shown a flow chart of the main stepsperformed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the instantinvention. As shown in FIG. 2, the first step (step 200) involvessigning up one or more retailers to participate in the non-serialized ERsystem. The participating retailers provide return (and/orwarranty/replacement) criteria or policies to the operator of the ERsystem (or possibly directly to the ER system) for each group or classof products that the retailer desires to have registered in the ERsystem (step 202). Each policy is connected with a group (or groups) ofproducts having the same non-unique identifier thereon (i.e.,non-serialized products). As indicated above, this non-unique identifiercould be a model number, UPC, SKU or any other suitable identifier thatis used on the products. Each retailer is free to define its ownpolicies.

The retailer then sells, in a conventional manner, non-serializedproducts having, for example, UPC numbers corresponding to those thathave previously been identified to the ER system by the retailer ashaving a particular return policy. When the retailer sells anon-serialized products (step 204) the UPC (or SKU) is scanned orotherwise obtained at the point of sale and recorded within theretailers computer system. Throughout the sales day, many UPCs arecollected which represent sold products for that day. At the end of theday, the retailer preferably transmits to the ER system a single UPCcorresponding to each of the UPCs that were collected that day (step206). By transmitting the UPCs for sold products, the ER system is ableto determine that a sale has occurred that day for each of thetransmitted UPCs. As a result, the ER system knows that a legitimatereturn of that product could occur for the next 90 days (assuming a 90day return policy). Similarly, for any UPC in the ER system for which aUPC was not transmitted that day, the ER system knows that a legitimatereturn could only occur over the next 89 days in this example. In otherwords, based on the last date that a retailer has transmitted a UPC, theER system determines the last possible day that a legitimate return canoccur for that UPC (step 208). By transmitting the UPCs on a daily basisfrom each participating retailer, the ER system is able to make dailylast return date determinations for all of the UPCs in the system andfor each participating retailer, respectively. Preferably, the lastreturn dates are retailer specific, meaning that each retailer may (andprobably will) have a different last date for return for common UPCs,which is determined based on the last date they sold a product havingthat UPC and the retailer's specific return policy for that UPC.

While in the preferred embodiment the retailers transmit UPCs forpurchased products each day, such frequent transmissions are notrequired. In fact, the retailer may choose to only provide the UPC listand associated sales dates on a periodic basis. However, the timebetween transmissions must be at least as frequent as the return policyitself for the system to work effectively. In this example, the ERsystem basically assumes after 90 days without a transmission for aspecific UPC that the UPC is no longer being sold and that no furtherreturns are permitted. However, should another UPC get transmitted(indicating a sale of a product having that UPC) after the 90 dayperiod, the ER system resets the return period for another 90 days,thereby allowing return for that UPC for at least another 90 days andpossibly longer if another corresponding UPC transmission occurs withinthe 90 days. In this way, the ER system constantly updates its databaseto reflect the calculated last return dates for each of thenon-serialized products in its database based on the information itreceives from the retailers (or other party).

In order to improve the operation of the non-serialized ER system withrespect to reducing improper returns, retailers (and/or manufacturers)should change the UPC, SKU or other non-unique identifier used on itsproducts periodically so that old products cannot be returned simplybecause a newer product having the same UPC has been sold within thelegitimate return period. This situation can be avoided or at leastminimized by changing the UPC fairly often, such as each time a newfeature, color or other characteristic or the product changes orevolves, thereby effectively constituting a new and different product.

Once the ER system has the last return date stored for each UPC, the ERsystem can then be used for inquiries in a similar manner to the knownserialized ER system. For example, a sales clerk being presented with areturn accesses the ER system either by VRU, computer terminal or thelike, and enters the non-unique identifier (e.g., UPC) on the product.The ER system then checks its database for the UPC and returns returnqualification information (step 210) to the sales clerk (such as lastdate for return) that enables the sales clerk to make a determination asto whether or not it is possible for that product to still qualify forreturn under the applicable return criteria. The sales clerk is thenable to proceed accordingly with respect to the attempted return (i.e.,accept or reject the return).

As can be seen from the description herein, the instant inventionenables non-serialized products to be registered in an ER system for thepurpose of reducing the cost of product returns. While thenon-serialized system is not as accurate as the serialized system withrespect to return qualification determinations, the non-serializedsystem described herein still provides significant benefits to theretailer and manufacturer with respect to reducing unauthorized returns.The non-serialized system is also easier to implement and lessinformation intensive due to, for example to the fact that informationon every product sale does not need to be transmitted to the ER system.Instead, transmission of a list containing a single reference to eachdifferent UPC for products sold each day (or within another suitabletime period) will enable the system to operate as explained herein.

It is noted that the actual date of sale does not necessarily have to betransmitted to the ER system. Instead, the ER system could, for example,assume that the date the UPC is transmitted is the date of sale, or theretailer could transmit a date that is associated with the sale or otherdesired event other than the actual sale date.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary block diagram showing the main steps involved insetting-up or initializing a non-serialized ER system in accordance withthe preferred embodiment of the instant invention. As shown in FIG. 3,and as described above, the process begins when a retailer begins itsparticipation in a non-serialized ER program (step 300). The retailerperiodically transmits information to the ER system which indicateswhich non-serialized products were sold since the last transmission andwhen. The transmission may be daily, but it need not be daily (step302). For example, the retailer could simply send the information atintervals that correspond to the return period(s) for the products. Forexample, if the return period is 90 days, the retailer could simply sendthe information at the end of each 90 day period, thereby providing theER system information as to which products should have their returnperiods reset by the ER system. Any other suitable period betweentransmission that satisfies a business rule may be used. The retaileralso provides the ER system with information that defines returnpolicies for the non-serialized products. Based on the transmittedinformation, the ER system determines, for each non-serialized productreferenced in the transmission, the last day on which returns should beaccepted under the applicable return policies of the retailer to which areturn is presented (step 304).

FIG. 4 is an exemplary block diagram of the main steps involved in usingthe ER system in connection with returns of non-serialized products. Asshown in FIG. 4, and as discussed above, the return process begins whena party presents a non-serialized product for return to a retailer (orother agent of a manufacturer)(step 400). The ER system is the contactedand provided with a non-unique identifier (such as UPC or SKU) for theproduct being presented for return (step 402). The ER system then checksits database for information on the non-serialized product. If noinformation is found, then the ER system reports this to the retailer sothat the retailer can handle the return request in a conventionalfashion without the benefit of ER. On the other hand, if information forthe non-serialized product is found in the database, the ER systemreturns information to the retailer indicating the whether or not it ispossible for the presented product to qualify for return under theapplicable return policy using the previously transmitted information onnon-serialized sales (step 404). The retailer then makes the decision onwhether or not to accept the return based on the information provided bythe ER system (step 406). In this way, the retailer can assure thatreturns are only accepted if it is at least possible for the product toqualify for return based on the last date that such a product was soldby that retailer. Thus, the non-serialized ER system of the instantinvention is operable to reduce the number of improper returns as wellas reducing the costs associated therewith. The system also helps withcustomer relations by providing information that can be used to explainto a customer why a return cannot be accepted.

While the preferred forms and embodiment of the instant invention havebeen illustrated and described, it will be apparent to those of ordinaryskill in the art that various modification and/or changes may be made tothe exemplary embodiment described above. Thus, the exemplary embodimentdescribed above is not meant to limit the scope of the invention beyondthe express scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A product registration method for use withnon-uniquely identified products, the method comprising: receivingproduct information identifying a plurality of non-uniquely identifiedproduct types that have been sold; associating registration dates withthe non-uniquely identified product types; determining, via at least oneprocessor, last dates on which non-uniquely identified productscorresponding to the non-uniquely identified product types can beaccepted for return/warranty service under applicable return/warrantycriteria, the last dates of the non-uniquely identified products beingdetermined based on the registration dates associated with thenon-uniquely identified product types to which the respectivenon-uniquely identified products correspond; storing aspects of saiddeterminations to a database; and enabling, in response to receivedinquiries and in consultation with the database, return/warrantyeligibility qualifications to be made for non-uniquely identifiedproducts.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the product information isreceived on a daily basis, the product information including anidentifier for each type of product sold that day.
 3. The method ofclaim 1, wherein products of the same type share a common non-uniqueidentifier.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the common non-uniqueidentifier is a UPC.
 5. The method of claim 3, wherein productsbelonging to the non-uniquely identified product types are notserialized.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein products belonging to thenon-uniquely identified product types are not serialized.
 7. The methodof claim 1, wherein the return/warranty eligibility qualifications takeinto account the last dates on which inquired-about non-uniquelyidentified products can be accepted for return/warranty service underapplicable return/warranty criteria.
 8. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising enabling, in response to received inquiries, return/warrantyeligibility qualifications to be made for uniquely identified products.9. The method of claim 8, further comprising enabling inquiries relatedto uniquely identified products and inquiries from related tonon-uniquely identified products to be distinguished from one anotherand handled accordingly, based at least in part on the contents of therespective inquiries.
 10. The method of claim 8, wherein the contents ofinquiries for non-uniquely identified products include UPCs, and thecontents of inquiries for uniquely identified products include serialnumbers.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein return/warranty eligibilityqualifications can be made for non-uniquely identified products forwhich serialized registration data has not been collected.
 12. A methodfor use with non-uniquely identified products, the method comprising:transmitting an inquiry to an electronic registration (ER) system when anon-uniquely identified product having a non-uniquely identified producttype is presented in connection with a post-sale return and/or warrantyrequest, the ER system including at least one processor and a databasestoring associations between registration dates and non-uniquelyidentified product types, the ER system, including the at least oneprocessor, being configured to at least (a) make determinations as tolast dates on which non-uniquely identified products can be accepted forreturn/warranty service using the database and based at least in part onthe respective types of those products and the registration datesassociated therewith, and (b) issue return/warranty servicequalifications using the determinations and applicable return/warrantycriteria; and receiving, from the ER system and in response to theinquiry, an issued qualification as to whether the presentednon-uniquely identified product might qualify for return/warrantyservice under the applicable return/warranty criteria.
 13. The method ofclaim 12, wherein product information used in making the associations istransmitted to the ER system on a daily basis.
 14. The method of claim13, wherein the product information is received from a plurality ofdifferent sources.
 15. The method of claim 12, wherein products of thesame type share a common non-unique identifier.
 16. The method of claim15, wherein the common non-unique identifier is a UPC.
 17. The method ofclaim 12, wherein qualifications are based on comparisons between lastdates associated with inquired about product types, dates inquiries aremade, and applicable return/warranty criteria.
 18. The method of claim12, wherein the ER system is configured to accept and respond torequests regarding uniquely identified products.
 19. The method of claim12, further comprising collecting serialized registration data ifpossible, and then transmitting collected serialized registration datato the ER system.
 20. The method of claim 12, wherein the ER system islocated remotely from where the non-uniquely identified product ispresented for return.